Saturday, December 22, 2012

IRRI Riceworld Museum and Learning Center : Everything About Rice

There's this great museum that you can find in Los Banos, Laguna and its located at the premises of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). They call it the RiceWorld Museum and Learning Center where it showcases everything about rice, rice and rice.

I was at IRRI for two days attending an event sponsored by them and a Telecoms company (SMART), and had the opportunity to wander around their impressive museum. The collection of old equipment and tools that can be found at the museum were fascinating and quite a historical experience.

I believe the health of future generations is entirely dependent on the individual and collective choices that we are making today. Investing in young people as learners, leaders, peer educators and role models is the foundation of a more prosperous society and economy.

The youth is one of the world’s most precious resources. This means that creating meaningful opportunities for youth to grow and develop can only expand to have a positive impact on human development overall, as this investment establishes a framework for a more engaged society as a whole. We need to instil in today’s children the empowering knowledge that their ideas and actions can and will have an impact, which is why capacity building from a young age is so critical for a prosperous future. Access to education and health is instrumental for poverty reduction and to ensure economic growth and social sustainability.

The Boy Scouts of the Philippines has a brand new hotel in Laguna and its practically just a few months old. I was fortunate enough to be among the first one to try out the accommodations when an NGO sponsored an event for a group of techies and developers and the hotel was the chosen place for the entire group to stay.

The Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) is the national Scout organization of the Philippines. Its mission is to imbue in the youth the love of God, country, and fellow men; to train young people to become responsible leaders; and to contribute in nation-building.

The BSP was chartered under Commonwealth of the Philippines Act No. 111 on October 31, 1936. Its predecessor was the Philippine Council chartered by the Boy Scouts of America in 1923 through the work of American, Chinese, and Filipino businessmen and interest groups.

Mang Adolfo and His New Polo Shirt

Reposting from a Fcaebook post of WIM Writer Raisa Tan:

I'd probably get into trouble with my mom for talking to strangers, it's a bad habit of mine that I can't seem to get rid of. Hi mom, if you read this, I LOVE YOU!

Anyways, after buying myself lunch, I was on my way home from work when I noticed a man stretched out under the sun on a layer or two of cardboard. Anyone who's stepped outside today would know that today's weather isn't "bask under the sun like you're at the beach" weather, it's more of, "i'm burning alive under the sun" weather. So to see him there, bothered me.

Decided to pull over, gave him my juice, which of course prompted me to give him my lunch and seeing how shabbily dressed he was, decided to give him a new polo. Look at how dashing he looks.

iZone-iHUB just recently had their site accessible to the Philippine technology community boasting the opportunities techies can get aside from the free access to WiFi, coffee, office space amenities, safety and security. This place serves as incubators for startup projects under the pseudo of Information Technology (IT) to be exposed to commercialization targeting a global market.

This place also function as a place for collaboration and development were techies from all walks of life to converge, iZone-iHUB believes that through collaboration, ideas can be nurtured and develop to become projects with value containing diverse technology driven input that can be categorized as innovative and unique.

The opportunities and possibilities offered by iZone-iHUB to the technology community is endless! iZone-iHUB has an on-going contest were an individual or group can win as much as fifty thousand pesos worth of prizes. By submitting their innovative projects to iZone-iHUB, the founder Mr. Daniel Pena who is a well-known business magnate and investor with 40+ years of experience dealing with businesses and start ups. This ensures your project will go to greater heights under his wing. You have an opportunity for your project to be commercialized or monetized under iZone-iHUB and also at the same time you get to win the prize.

iZone-iHUB will have a grand launch scheduled for January 18, 2013 were prestigious leaders and IT enthusiast will be attending to fully grasp what are the activities lined up for the year 2013 and they would also have the Techno Summit the following month which is February 16, 2013. Highlight of this event would be the twenty four (24) hour Hackathon event were participants from Colleges, Universities and Professionals would be able to work as a team or as an individual and compete in development an innovative project within the 24 hour window, participants would also have the opportunity to have this project exposed by presenting it on the event hall. Both events will be graced by renowned individuals under the technology industry and Representative Angelo B. Palmones himself would be present on both occasion to provide his idea about innovation and technology.

With the support that you will provide us, this can help in providing further exposure to the opportunities that we are willing to share to all pinoy techies and technology enthusiasts.

iZone-iHUB believes that the next big thing after Facebook would be coming out of the Philippines and this idea or project would be coming from this technology driven individuals. Support our cost and be part of this wave of change that iZone-iHUB started.

iZone-iHub Bloggers Conference

Blog about iZone-iHUB and win!

Calling all amateur and professional bloggers! Turn that golden hand to great prizes by attending our iZone-iHUB Bloggers Conference and by simply blogging about what’s to come for iZone-iHUB!

Mechanics
1.    The contest is open to all amateurs and professional bloggers. It starts upon completion of attendance to our blogger’s conference.

2.    Bloggers will be invited to attend the iZone-iHUB bloggers conference this January 4, 2013 at iZone-iHUB Tech site. Slot reservations are a must.

Venue: Penthouse 12^th floor 1 Agustin Building, Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Business Center, Pasig City 1605.

3.    Each blogger will publish a post (not more than 600 words) in their blogs regarding the events and what to expect from iZone-iHUB.

4.    Theme of the contest: iZone-iHUB as a beacon of innovation in the Philippines.
Note: entry should stick to the theme and the blogger’s knowledge/understanding of iZone-iHUB and the activities they have planned for. Bloggers are allowed to use a maximum of 5 photos and these photos should be relevant to the topic.

5.    Contestants are required to fill up the online registration form in order to join the contest. To register they need to visit this link: http://ihub.izonetech-ph.com. They will be required to fill up the required fields and provide the URL link of their blogs. (The registration form will appear on the site on the date of the Bloggers Conference)

6.    The entries must be published on their own respective blogs on or before the (Date) or for amateur bloggers you can contribute your entries to technology driven blog sites for exposure of your content. Again blogger must be registered in order to qualify.

7.    Deadline of submissions will be at January 14, 2013. ( 2 days before the Grand Launch)

8.    All entries will be judged following this criteria:

a.    50 pts – Traction of Blog (Unique visits, number of visitors from the time frame of the contest)
b.    30 pts – Quality (includes writing style / ability to understand iZone-iHUB and its goals)
c.    15 pts – Creativity ( Includes choices of words and overall layout of the entry)
d.    5 pts – Technicality (Should be written in English, use of Filipino and /dialect must be provided with English translation enclosed with parenthesis, word limit and number of photos in the entry.

9.    3 winners will be selected among all the entries.

10. Announcement of winners will be done in the Grand Launch event at January 16, 2013 at iZone-iHUB Tech Site.

11. Judge’s decisions are final and binding.

12. By participating, you are giving iZone-iHUB the right to use the blog in any marketing promotions, including announcement of winners of publicity purposes.

Philips Construct Headphones: Sound Tripping In Dumaguete

Wazzup Pilipinas!

I'm so excited about this headphone review because I spent a great number of days with it including two extra days (aside from the two original tour days - which makes it a whopping four days!) stranded in the city of Dumaguete in the province of Negros Oriental!

Flights were all cancelled, even our ferry trip to Bohol to visit another resort was no longer in the agenda because of the Typhoon Pablo that struck these areas of the Philippines.

It was a good thing I had a headphone to soothe me through the nights even during the height of Typhoon Pablo. It was four days of sound tripping in the city of Dumaguete!

12.21.2012 diary.

I woke up early 4 am to be exact.

Everything seems to be working just fine no news that the world is in turmoil. I guess today will be just another day as usual. But why treat it as just one of the same when each day should be lived like it is the last day of our lives. Be more of everything, be more loving, be more gentle, be more understanding, be more tolerant and be more caring these are probably the lessons the Mayans wanted for us to learn when they said the world will end on December 21, 2012, probably even then they wanted a better world not only for themeselvss but for everyone else. So I say to the Mayans, yes my old world is about to end and welcome to my new world. We can all do the same today. Cheers!

The usual morning rituals. Breakfast rice with Spanish sardines and two cups of yogi tea. Read a chapter from 50 shades of grey. Prepping for a lunch date with dad and I am sure we will have coffee after, so far the day seems to be only starting and not ending. Good morning everyone, how is your day so far? -Nap Beltran

Thanks, Men's Health for objectifying women and breaking down our complex personalities into a sexist formula.

How is this sexist? If you ask men what they like and hold multiple surveys this is what they will say. Hence why at the time it says "RESEARCH" as in surveys. Women who are complaining about this are just insecure and have multiple shortcomings in this.

Again, how can you say something is sexist when they are using surveys that ask men what they find attractive. If someone does not find you attractive that means they are sexist?

I'm Angus Steakhouse prepared something extra special for you this holiday season! Allow us to introduce our Festive Seasons Special Menu featuring stellar dishes which will truly give you and your loved ones an experience like no other!

GDG Philippines will have it's Christmas Geekup Party on December 22 from 4-7PM at Payroll Hero (14th Floor, Picadilly Star Building, 27th St. cor 4th Ave. Bonifacio Global City).

We'll have a P themed Geekup from Programming to Pasta, Pica-Pica, Pizza to Pamasko for the PabloPH survivors in Mindanao. We highly encourage the attendees to bring any kind of pamasko (from towels, blankets, old geek shirts, books, notebooks for kids, canned good and etc) to win limited Google and Android items.

To signup for the event, please register here.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHgtWUx6YUt3amEyZS1ZdDBzRVlJQ1E6MQ#gid=0

WebFWD Helps Startups Hit The Accelerator

WebFWD by Mozilla helps open source innovators create businesses to change the world.

WebFWD is a three-month business creation program for startups around the world. The program consists of weekly training sessions & exercises, office hours with industry experts, ongoing coaching and guidance from the world's best technologists. Upon graduating, teams can qualify for follow-on funding from Mozilla.

Traditional startup accelerator and incubator models aren't designed to address the demands and advantages of open innovation. WebFWD is uniquely positioned to share Mozilla's experience and skill with world-changing, mobile-focused web startups.

WebFWD entrepreneurs worldwide are committed to building new web technologies that align with Mozilla's values, and support our mission to promote openness, innovation and opportunity on the Web. Our goal is to help you jumpstart your technology vision and build it into a business.

Apply for the Feb 2013 Class now!

https://webfwd.org/apply/

Wakajaka Is Now Launching Kids Into Space!

A message from Wakajaka:

Conquering space has always been a dream and aspiration from preschoolers to presidents. For people who never had the astronomical budget to make it happen, Waka Space offers a unique and economical way to realize your dream. Use anything from household appliances to stuff from the junkyard to create your rocket of choice.

Once launched into space, the experience that awaits is something traditional astronauts could only dream of. Planets that turn into flowers, trains and the occasional jellyfish.

Despite rumors spread by film-makers and scientists, space is extremely safe – actually we made it safer than any other place on earth.

Wakajaka is an interactive game studio for toddlers, preschoolers and people in general who deserves a break from the grown-up world. Our mission is to create games that nurtures creativity and imagination, supported by simple and easy to pick-up game play, where the unexpected is a pleasant surprise, rather than scary monsters.

We believe that games should nurture creativity and imagination, supported by simple and easy to pick-up game play. Sparkling and colorful environments, where the unexpected is a pleasant surprise, rather than scary monsters. Realizing that kids needs to run, jump and generally experience the physical world, we aim to keep our productions short and qualitative, being that moment of relaxation in between other activities.

The people who work on our productions, all share passion for games, art and interactive media. As no idea is too crazy to be considered, we constantly work with one foot in a sandbox and the other in lab. As our group of strategic consultants is largely based on kids, we never rely on “what mom and dad thinks is cool”, but merely as guardians to keep grown-ups from spoiling the fun. However, we do consider it our mission to keep our games free from advertising and in-app purchases, ensuring that the game is the experience and not an advertising campaign.

Don’t keep your kids within the frame.

Follow either download-link to sample Waka Space on Windows or Mac.

Want to try out Waka Space but dont have time to install it on your phone?

Download our promo demo, both for Mac and Windows.

Youll need to unzip them and after that install and enjoy the flight!

Waka Space Promo for MAC

Waka Space Promo for Windows

We also have 2 other mobile apps, Waka Fireworks and Waka Sleep Aid out now on the AppStore and it’s absolutely FREE!

Waka Space

Conquering space has always been a dream and aspiration from preschoolers to presidents. For people who never had the astronomical budget to make it happen, Wakaspace offers a unique and economical way to realize your dream. Use anything from household appliances to stuff from the junkyard to create your rocket of choice.

Once launched into space, the experience that awaits is something traditional astronauts could only dream of. Planets that turn into flowers, trains and the occasional jellyfish.

Despite rumors spread by film-makers and scientists, space is extremely safe – actually we made it safer than any other place on earth.

Launch is imminent.

Waka Fireworks

Would you like to experience fireworks with massive explosions and vibrant colors – without risking your fingers being blown-off? We guessed so.

Remember when you finally did convince your parents to buy that special piece of firework, that promised to light up the sky of an entire nation? Then you might also remember the anticlimax of a firework that barely overshadowed the matches used to light it.

What we can offer, is an alternative that packs the maximum amount of gun powder your iPhone can carry, but safe enough even in the hands of Uncle Berry’s toddler.

We have all the simple tools to compose every stage of your firework explosion, from patterns to colors. No need for safety glasses or keeping your fingers crossed – just ignite!

Out now and its Free!

Waka Sleep Aid

Trouble sleeping? This application can bring the most upset toddler to sleep before you know it. Featuring an array of tried and tested, soothing sounds that will comfort and make sure the land of dreams is never too far away for any child.

Out now on the App Store, and its FREE!

Developed by parents – for parents.

Waka Garage

Who said you need to be a big boy to play with big toys? In this garage, there is enough spare-parts for every wannabe mechanic or junior car pimp. Build, customize and spin. From grandpa’s trusty old tractor to the sports car your dad would trade your mom for.
Rolling up your drive-way this January!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Chesa Bianca Swiss Restaurant Festive Seasons Special Menu

Chesa Bianca Swiss Restaurant prepared something extra special for you this holiday season! Allow us to introduce our Festive Seasons Special Menu featuring stellar dishes which will truly give you and your loved ones an experience like no other!

Carpaccio Ristorante Italiano prepared something extra special for you this holiday season! Allow us to introduce our Festive Seasons Special Menu featuring stellar dishes which will truly give you and your loved ones an experience like no other!